Fall 2012 SightThe Wilmer EyeLine Institute at Johns Hopkins A Boost for Rising Stars The Next Generation Fund will help Wilmer recruit promising junior faculty members by reducing their medical school debt. ontents s see it cImpact a 3 Women’s Board Gift Makes Critical Tool Possible P HOTO Wilmer’s Eric Singman tells why a high- Dear Wilmer Friends and Family, tech new machine is a “win-win-win” BY KEITH WELLER BY for diagnosing and treating glaucoma. Not long ago, age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, was untreatable—a major cause of blindness and the leading Impact cause of new cases of blindness in people In the Neighborhood over age 65. When there was no FDA- 4 Wilmer’s network of satellite locations approved therapy for AMD and clinical will soon expand to 10 locations research was needed to evaluate potential across Maryland. treatments, Rick and Sandy Forsythe were there for Wilmer. They supported important work here that helped lead to Cover some of today’s effective therapies. A Boost for Rising Stars When Wilmer’s research space was full 6 The Next Generation Fund will help and potentially promising new therapies Wilmer recruit promising junior could not be explored because of the lack faculty members by reducing their of additional labs, Rick and Sandy were medical school debt. there with a lead gift that allowed construction of the 60,000-square-foot Forsythe Pavilion for AMD Research. This gift made possible the addition of new faculty who have built programs in nanotechnology, regenerative Eye to Eye medicine, and genetics, and allowed Wilmer to assemble the largest group of Compassion That Knows academicians devoted to bringing to light the cause(s) of—and plotting an 10 No Borders end to—the epidemic of AMD. Faced with a grim diagnosis, Andrew And when the Wilmer faculty identified the critical need for funding to Marriott didn’t give up. His search recruit the best and brightest young minds in ophthalmology to academic brought him to the lab of Wilmer’s medicine, Rick and Sandy stepped up once again. Their generous lead gift has Peter Campochiaro. established the Next Generation Fund at Wilmer. Why are funds to support young academicians so important? As recently reported in The New York Times, the average graduate from an American medical Insight school finishes with a student loan debt in the neighborhood of $200,000. The Taking South Carolina Times also projects a shortage of some 90,000 physicians by 2020 in the U.S.—a 12 by Storm shortage that will be exacerbated by the new health care law. Meanwhile, the Lucian V. Del Priore, new director federal budget deficit has resulted in reduced funding for research, salary cuts for of the Storm Eye Institute, is one of medical scientists, less funding for training young physicians, and projections more than 100 Wilmer alumni now of reduced payments to physicians. After many years of training, a number of leading prestigious medical facilities talented young people fear that they cannot afford the reduced compensation around the world. that comes with an academic career; and they worry that grant funding needed to explore their best ideas will not be available. Events & Honors The future of academic ophthalmology requires a pipeline of men and 14 Grand Rounds at KKESH, tribute to women who are excellent doctors and great teachers—and who are excited Allan Jensen and Verdura Show at about discovering the therapies of tomorrow. Our ability to maintain the Neiman Marcus. scientific momentum in the fight against eye disease demands that we make academic careers viable and attractive to young physician-scientists who share this vision. The Next Generation Fund is one more reason I have confidence Annual Review that Wilmer will continue to be the hotbed of eye care and vision research Faculty feats for FY12, plus a thank you for generations to come. Thank you to our donors for supporting the work of 16 to our generous donors. Wilmer’s future stars. COVER PHOTO OF WILMER’S NICK MAHONEY BY MIKE CIESIELSKI Peter J. McDonnell, MD William Holland Wilmer Professor and Director 2 SightLine FALL 2012 impact Women’s Board Gift Makes Critical Tool Possible Eric Singman with the valuable new SD-OCT, which allows ne of the newest tools at Wilmer’s General earlier diagnosis of glaucoma and is more sensitive to Eye Service comes with a long name—and a disease progression than traditional testing methods. big price tag. The Zeiss Cirrus Spectral Do- main Ocular Coherence Tomograph (SD- OCT for short) was purchased for just shy Oof $60,000. Much to the delight of Eric Singman, director valuable training opportunities for the residents who staff of the General Eye Services clinic at Wilmer, the Women’s the clinic. “We want to teach our residents best clinical Board of Johns Hopkins picked up the tab. practices, and we want them—and our patients—to As part of the Women’s Board annual grant process, have access to equipment that reflects cutting-edge departments across Hopkins submit applications based on ophthalmologic care,” Singman says. their most pressing needs. The board approved Singman’s Prior to acquiring the SD-OCT, residents at the clinic request for the SD-OCT, a state-of-the-art machine that had to direct patients to another location in Wilmer for is critical in the effective diagnosis and management of testing. Because the clinic is open to all patients, regardless glaucoma and optic nerve disorders. On an annual basis, the of ability to pay, a large proportion of patients are indigent, clinic sees approximately 5,000 patients who either have or uninsured, and underinsured—many because of pre-existing are being evaluated for glaucoma and related conditions. physical disabilities that limit their mobility. Sending With its high-tech capabilities, the SD-OCT enables patients elsewhere for testing was not only stressful and earlier diagnosis than traditional testing methods and is difficult for patients, but it also interrupted the flow of the more sensitive to disease progression. The machine uses clinic and greatly extended patient wait times. lasers to scan the retina and optic nerves and creates two- “Having the SD-OCT in the clinic enhances our and three-dimensional images at a microscopic level, with a ability to provide a full spectrum of services, address resolution measured in nanometers, not millimeters. these humanitarian and efficiency concerns, and train our Not only will the SD-OCT greatly benefit patients residents,” Singman says. “Getting this machine is a triple in terms of more accurate testing, but it will also provide hit for us—a win, win, win.” ■ Development 410-955-2020 Appointments 410-955-5080 3 impact In the Neighborhood ilmer is experiencing tremendous By the end of this year, Wilmer’s network of satellite growth—and that, of course, is a good offices—which already reaches as far west as Frederick and thing, says Wilmer Director Peter J. as far south as Odenton—will expand to 10 locations. The McDonnell. The increased demand for newest satellite location is Bethesda, just minutes away services comes from both the demo- from the nation’s capital. The need and opportunity for Wgraphic tidal wave of aging adults and the greater avail- this office arose when the trustees of Sibley and Suburban ability of new treatments for eye diseases that were, until hospitals decided to join the fold of the Johns Hopkins recently, considered untreatable. Health System. With more and more patients turning to Wilmer for routine and specialized care, the need to expand facilities and staffing could not be ignored. “Having patients wait weeks, even months, for an appointment was not acceptable,” McDonnell says. “We aspire to treat our patients the way we would like to be treated—and that means providing them with prompt appointments and world-class care.” Knowing the physical limitations of the East Baltimore campus, and understanding that many patients are not within easy driving distance of Wilmer, McDonnell looked to expand satellite locations in the greater Baltimore-Washington metropolitan community. “To be able to serve our referring ophthalmologists from around the country and all the patients who want to see us, we need more locations to provide our patients with better Drs. Yassine Daoud (far left), Ingrid Zimmer-Galler (middle convenience, flexibility, and access,” McDonnell right), and Mahsa Salehi (far right) welcome guests at explains. “We have to be where our patients are.” Wilmer's Columbia location expansion. 4 SightLine FALL 2012 Wilmer Director Peter J. McDonnell; Ronald R. Peterson, president, the Johns Hopkins Hospital; Adrienne Scott, medical director, Wilmer Parris-Castoro; and staff celebrate the grand opening of Wilmer Parris-Castoro. Scheduled to open in January, the 8,000-square- Arundel Health Systems, allowing both entities to better foot Bethesda facility will be in the same center as the meet the needs of the growing population in that area. satellite offices for Johns Hopkins Community Physicians. Nowhere has the need for expansion been as evident as Wilmer will staff a full-service center for optometry and in Columbia, the location of Wilmer’s first satellite office ophthalmology with specialists in cornea, retina, and south of Baltimore. It didn’t take long for the 3,000-square- oculoplastics, according to the site’s medical director foot facility, which opened in 2004, to reach maximum Shameema Sikder. “We’re trying to create a mini Wilmer capacity. Early this year, it was replaced by a clinic twice as that’s more accessible,” she explains. “We’ve always had large, with nearly three times as many physicians. patients from this area referred to us for our expertise, and For Yassine Daoud, assistant professor of ophthalmology now we’re bringing that expertise a little closer to our patients’ and a cornea specialist, the new space was a much- neighborhood.